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January 29, 2016

I Thought I Knew You

This week, stories of people who are feeling the ground shift underneath them when people they are close to change. Including conservative radio host Tony Beam in South Carolina who is completely baffled by the candidate his audience has decided to get behind this election season.

Radio host Tony Beam prepares for a broadcast. Photo by Zoe Chace.

Prologue

Host Ira Glass talks with Adam Mansbach about what happened when he went looking for an apartment and was mistaken for someone else. Adam is the author of the book Go The F*** To Sleep. (9 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Who's Really On Line 1?

Producer Zoe Chace goes to Greenville, South Carolina to talk with Tony Beam – host of the radio show Christian Worldview Today. Tony and his listeners are evangelical Christians, and usually, Tony backs a candidate for office and his listeners tend to agree with him. But this election season, things are playing out very differently. (27 minutes)

By

Zoe Chace
Act Two

My Little Bruce Dupe

One day comic Jay Larson's phone rang. And the people on the other end of the line thought they knew who they were talking to. So Jay decided to play along. (7 minutes)

By

Jay Larson
Act Three

A Light From the Other Side

Robert had a bad reputation as a kid who didn't do his schoolwork and had little respect for adults. But his best friend, Lilly thought he was misunderstood. After Robert died, Lilly decided to step in and do for him what he could never do for himself: Tell people how great he was. And also tell his teachers how much he'd appreciated their efforts, even though he'd never shown it. Eve Abrams, one of Robert's former teachers and a freelance radio reporter, tells the story. This story originally aired in 2007.

By

Eve Abrams

Song:

“Never Too Late” by Kraak & Smaak

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Act Two: Fire Sale

Comedian Tig Notaro has the story of someone as close as her actual bedside yet who, in another way, is impossibly far away. (9 minutes)To read more about the kids stuck in the sewer, check out Jake Offenhartz’s story in Gothamist.

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